The favorite to coach Manchester United next season is interim manager Michael Carrick, who was a brilliant center midfielder for the club more than a decade ago and has immediately turned the club around into Champions League contenders after two disastrous Ruben Amorim and Erik ten Hag reigns.
But Manchester United are still looking around the market for established coaches and big names, and according to information from ESPN’s top journalist Mark Ogden, there are five managers on their current short list.
Manchester United are indeed looking at Julian Nagelsmann of the German national team and Marseille’s Roberto De Zerbi, formerly of Brighton. But they are also interested in three current Premier League managers in Aston Villa’s Unai Emery, Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner, and Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola.
That is a pretty strong list. Nagelsmann and Emery are the only managers who have been at elite clubs before, while De Zerbi is the only one who seems to be linked to top clubs, though his track record of signing players of low character like Mason Greenwood should rub Man United the wrong way.
Nagelsmann had a high reputation in the German league but since coaching the national team, his ego has been exposed and he has been quite underwhelming. Iraola is a talented tactician but very unproven at the highest level.
Glasner can win and has achieved great things at smaller clubs, but, again, he seems to have a problem with ego after his outbursts at Palace this season and with his fallouts at German clubs. And Emery has rebuilt his reputation in turning Villa into a powerhouse (and succeeding at Villarreal and Sevilla before that) but proved at PSG and even Arsenal that he cracks under more pressure.
So while these are five strong options in various ways, they also have serious flaws that may make Manchester United pause when keeping Carrick carries less risk – and less of a cost.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.